Wig

ABSTRACT

A hair material for a wig is preliminarily curled and then bound to a wig base to thereby orient the curled hair in a definite direction. A folded part ( 10   c ) of a hair material ( 10 ) is penetrated from one side of a filament ( 15 ) to the other side under a wig base ( 12 ) so that a first loop ( 17 ) is formed in the inner side of the folded part ( 10   c ). A curved part ( 10   d ) is inserted though the first loop ( 17 ) so that a second loop ( 19 ) is formed in the inner side of the curved part ( 10   d ). A part ( 10   b ) of the hair material is inserted through the second loop ( 19 ). Next, the hair material parts ( 10   a   , 10   b ) are pulled in directions opposite to each other and tied with the filament ( 15 ) to ( 20 ). Thus, the hair material ( 10 ) is bound to the filament ( 15 ).

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a wig to be worn to a head in full orin part, and more specifically, to a wig comprising a wig base andcurled hair materials fixed to the wig base.

BACKGROUND ART

Conventionally, hair materials used for wigs have generally beenstraight hairs. In recent years, however, there are a variety of hairstyles. Particularly, in case the user is a lady, an elegant and uniquefashionableness in hair styles as well as increase of hair in volume isquite often required, and it is difficult to meet such requirements ofvarious hair styles with straight hairs, which only provide a rather lowflexibility.

To solve this problem, there is known, for example, a technique asdisclosed in Japan Patent Application Laid-open 64-40606 A. According tothe technique disclosed in this specification, a hair material is foldedinto two, the folded portion is fastened to the front portion of a wigbase, the hair material is curled or turned over toward in the outwarddirection, and then the curled hair material is set to wave from thefront side toward the rear side of the wig base.

However, according to the above-described configuration, in which curlis imparted to all the hair materials fastened to the wig base throughpost-processing, the folded portion 1 a of each hair material 1 isalready fixed to a wig base 2 as shown in FIG. 21, so it is impossibleto secure a sufficient length for the remaining hair piece 1 b to impartcurl thereto. As a result, the hair piece 1 b can not be sufficientlywound around a curl imparting means 3 such as a rod or a curler, and itis likely to result in loose curl, making it rather difficult to imparta predetermined curl diameter.

In case curl is imparted through heat treatment, there is a fear of theheat resistance of the wig base 2 being rather insufficient. If the heattreatment can not be conducted at a predetermined high temperature, itis not possible to maintain curl for a long period of time.

Further, since imparting curl through post-processing is the same way asperming the natural hair, it takes time and effort, resulting in arather low efficiency.

In view of this, it might be conceivable to fasten a hair material withthe hair pieces previously curled to a wig base. However, as shown inFIG. 22, in case the folded portion 1 a is fastened to the base 2 in ageneral manner, the curls of the hair pieces 1 b are oriented to variousdirections. Thus, even if the hair material 1 is combed, it isimpossible to align the curl of the hair pieces in a predetermineddirection. It results not only in leading to a rather poor outwardappearance but also in not obtaining a desired hair fashion.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problem. It isan object of the present invention to provide a wig allowing orientationof the curl of a hair material in a predetermined direction after beingfastened to a wig base even in the case of hair material curled inadvance. Another object of the present invention is to provide a wigcapable of maintaining the curl imparted to the hair pieces for a longperiod of time.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

To achieve the object described above, a wig according to the presentinvention comprises a wig base to be worn to a head; and a large numberof hair materials fastened to the wig base, each being a pair of hairpieces folded into two, wherein curls are imparted in advance to thepair of hair pieces before being fastened to the wig base, wherein afolded portion of the pair of hair pieces is fixed to the wig base whiletips of the pair of hair pieces are being oriented to a predetermineddirection with respect to the wig base, thereby the curls of the pair ofhair pieces are oriented to a predetermined direction after being fixedto the wig base.

The fixation of the hair material to the wig base can be effected byfastening, transplanting, etc. When the wig base is of a net-likeconfiguration, the hair material is fixed to the wig base by fasteningthe folded portion between the two hair pieces to a filament of the net.When the wig base is of a sheet-like configuration, the hair material isfixed to the wig base by fastening or transplanting the folded portionbetween the two hair pieces to the filament.

According to the present invention, the curls of the pair of hair piecesmay be imparted by a method comprising the steps of applying a firstcold permanent liquid to the weft containing a predetermined number ofthe hair materials in each of a predetermined number of pitches andimpregnating a sheet of non-woven fabric with water; placing the weft onthe sheet and combing the weft to thereby uniformly distribute the hairmaterials on the sheet; winding the weft and the sheet integrally arounda pipe; keeping them in this state sealed in a bag for a predeterminedperiod of time; applying a second cold permanent liquid to the hairmaterials extracted from the bag after the predetermined period of timehas elapsed; winding the weft and the sheet integrally around the pipe;keeping them in this state for further predetermined period of time; andwashing in water the weft wound off after the further predeterminedperiod of time has elapsed.

According to the present invention, the curls of the pair of hair piecesmay be imparted by a method comprising the steps of applying aconditioner for chemical fibers to the weft containing a predeterminednumber of the hair materials in each of a predetermined number ofpitches; placing the weft on a sheet of one of non-woven fabric andpaper and combing the weft to thereby uniformly distribute the hairmaterials on the sheet; winding the weft and the sheet integrally arounda pipe; and heating them in this state for a predetermined period oftime.

According to the present invention, the curls of the pair of hair piecesmay be imparted by a method comprising the steps of impregnating theweft containing a predetermined number of the hair materials in each ofa predetermined number of pitches and a sheet of non-woven fabric withan aqueous solution of silicon emulsion; placing the weft on the sheetand combing the weft to thereby uniformly distribute the hair materialson the sheet; winding the weft and the sheet integrally around a pipeand covering them with an aluminum foil; and heating them in this statefor a predetermined period of time.

According to the present invention, the curls of the pair of hair piecesmay be imparted by a method comprising the steps of: immersing the weftcontaining a predetermined number of the hair materials in each of apredetermined number of pitches and a sheet of non-woven fabric in anaqueous solution of silicon emulsion; placing the weft on the sheetmaterial and combing the weft to thereby uniformly distribute the hairmaterials on the sheet material; winding the weft and the sheetintegrally around a pipe and drying them; and heating them in this statefor a predetermined period of time.

According to the present invention, the third and fourth steps of thejust prior embodiment may be replaced with the steps of: winding theweft and the sheet integrally around a pipe and covering them with analuminum foil; and heating them in this state for a predetermined periodof time.

As the hair materials of the present invention, apart from human hairs,it is also possible to use, hairs of synthetic resin such as acrylicresin, modacrylic resin or polyamide resin. As the wig base to whichthis hair material is to be fastened, there is used a filament or asheet-shaped base obtained by knitting synthetic fibers (chemicalfibers), vegetable fibers, animal fibers, etc. into a net-like form.From the viewpoint of stability in performance, durability, cost, etc.,it is desirable to use synthetic fibers, such as nylon or polyester. Asthe sheet-like member to be used as a guide in winding around a pipemember, non-woven fabric, paper, etc. are suitable. A non-woven fabricof rayon, polyester or the like, which increases in surface frictionalforce when moistened to thereby prevent slippage, is more preferable.

As the weft to be used in the present invention, a plurality of hairmaterials cut in a predetermined length are preferably arranged atintervals, and sewn together at appropriate positions in the lengthdirection of the hair materials to form a sewn bundle. When the lateralwidth of the weft is too large, it is rather difficult to apply uniformtension to the winding pipe member in the operation of winding it aroundthe winding pipe member. It is thus desirable for the lateral width ofthe weft to be 20 cm or less.

Since chemical fiber hairs after imparting curl thereto is hardened, aconditioner is applied to the weft to improve the texture thereof. Asthe conditioner, it is desirable to use a conditioner for chemicalfibers containing 20 to 30% of a surface-active agent composed ofnonions, cations or a mixture thereof. When the content of thesurface-active agent exceeds 30%, the surface of the hair material 10becomes sticky or the tone thereof is changed during the heat treatmentafter the imparting of curl. When the content of the surface-activeagent is less than 20%, an improvement in texture after the imparting ofcurl is hardly to be observed.

According to the present invention in Claims 1 through 6, the directionof the curl of the hair pieces is determined depending upon thedirection in which the hair materials are fastened to the wig base, anda predetermined hair design results. For example, when the hairmaterials are fixed to the wig base in a state in which they are alignedin the same direction, the curl of the hair pieces of these hairmaterials is aligned in the same direction. When a large number of hairmaterials are fastened to the wig base in fixed amounts in differentdirections, the curls of the hair pieces of these hair materials areoriented in different directions. Thus, through appropriate selection ofhair material fixing directions with respect to the wig base, it ispossible to obtain wigs for a variety of hair designs. Further, it ispossible to maintain the curl imparted to the hair pieces of the hairmaterials in a satisfactory state for a long period of time. In theconstruction of the present invention, the hair materials are fixed tothe wig base with their directions determined, so the direction of thecurl of the hair pieces is determined. Thus, after fixing the hairmaterials to the wig base, it is possible to easily obtain a wig inwhich the hair piece curl is oriented in a predetermined direction.Further, through this hair material attachment, it is possible to applythe wig not only to a basic hair design, but also to a complicated hairdesign with intermingled curl directions, making it possible to attain ahair design of high degree of freedom. Thus, as compared with theconventional wig, in which the curl direction is not fixed even if thehair materials are combed and which is rather poor in terms of design,it is possible to obtain a product that is more perfect as such.

Further, by forming a pair of hair pieces aligned in the same curldirection, when the hair material is fastened to the wig base, it ispossible to orient the hair piece curl in a predetermined direction moreeasily, with the hair piece not being easily allowed to wave in anyother direction. Further, as compared with the conventional technique,in which curling processing is effected after fastening the hairmaterials to the wig base, a predetermined curl size can be impartedmore easily and the curling operation can be performed in a shortertime. It is further possible to maintain the curl configuration impartedto the hair materials in a satisfactory manner for a long period oftime.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a plan view illustrating the operation of fastening a hairmaterial to a wig base according to a first embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a wig according to the first embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a weft according to the first embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a single hair material according to thefirst embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a front view of a hair material as fastened to a wig baseaccording to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a plan view illustrating the operation of fastening a hairmaterial to a wig base according to a second embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view illustrating the operation of blending hairmaterials common to third to seventh embodiments of the presentinvention.

FIG. 8 is a plan view of sewn weft common to the third to seventhembodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a plan view of a weft common to the third to seventhembodiments of the present invention as placed on a sheet material.

FIG. 10 is a plan view of a weft common to the third to seventhembodiments of the present invention placed on a sheet material ascombed.

FIG. 11 is a sectional view of a weft common to the third to seventhembodiments of the present invention placed on a sheet material.

FIG. 12 is a plan view illustrating how weft common to the third toseventh embodiments of the present invention and a sheet material arewound around a pipe member.

FIG. 13 is a sectional view showing a weft common to the third toseventh embodiments of the present invention and a sheet material aswound around a pipe member.

FIG. 14 is a perspective view showing a weft common to the third toseventh embodiments of the present invention and a sheet material aswound around a pipe member.

FIG. 15 is a front view of a hair material common to the third toseventh embodiments of the present invention as fastened to a filamentof a wig base.

FIG. 16 is a plan view of hair materials drawn out of weft common to thethird to seventh embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 17 is a longitudinal sectional view of a hair material composed ofstraight-chain aliphatic polyamide according to a fifth embodiment ofthe present invention.

FIG. 18 is a perspective view of a pipe member according to a fifthembodiment of the present invention as covered with an aluminum foil.

FIG. 19 is a schematic sectional view of an artificial hair material ofa core-sheath structure according to a sixth embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 20 is a schematic view showing asperities of an artificial hairmaterial according to the sixth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 21 is a schematic view showing how a conventional hair material iscurled.

FIG. 22 is a schematic view showing how conventional hair materials arefastened to a wig base.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

In the following, embodiments of the present invention will be describedwith reference to FIGS. 1 through 20. Of the drawings, FIGS. 1 through 5show the first embodiment of the present invention. FIGS. 1( a) through1(e) are plan views illustrating the operation of fastening a hairmaterial to a filament of a wig base in the form of a net, FIG. 2 is aperspective view of a wig, FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a weft, FIGS.4( a) through 4(d) are perspective views of a single hair material, andFIG. 5 is a front view of hair materials as fastened to a filament of awig base.

In the first embodiment of the present invention shown in FIGS. 1through 5, a large number of hair materials 10 are fastened to a wigbase 12 as hair 11 to form a wig 13 as shown in FIG. 2. As the hairmaterials 10, human hairs or synthetic resin hairs are used. In thestate of a weft 14 prior to the fastening to the wig base 12, curl isimparted to hair pieces 10 a, 10 b beforehand. When large number of hairmaterials 10 are fastened to the wig base 12, there is formed a hairdesign in which the hair 11 equally parted in the middle is curledsymmetrically.

As shown in FIGS. 1 through 5, the wig base 12 is composed of anartificial skin or a net of synthetic resin shaped into a headconfiguration. In this embodiment, the hair materials 10 are fastened tofilaments 15 forming a net constituting the wig base 12. The weft 14 isobtained by sewing together a plurality of hair materials 10 cut in apredetermined length at a predetermined longitudinal position with asewing thread 16. The weft is wound around a cylindrical member such asa pipe member (not shown) and is subjected to heat treatment, so curl isimparted to the hair pieces 10 a, 10 b of the hair materials 10 as shownin FIG. 2.

A hair material 10 is drawn out of the weft 14 whose hair pieces 10 a,10 b are thus curled beforehand. The hair material 10 thus drawn out isfolded into two to form a pair of hair pieces 10 a, 10 b curled in thesame direction and a folded portion 10 c folded between the hair pieces10 a, 10 b. The hair pieces 10 thus folded into two are classified into,as shown in FIG. 2, right-hand side curl hair pieces for use on theright-hand side with respect to the middle parting portion of the wig 13and left-hand side curl hair pieces for use on the left-hand side withrespect to the middle parting portion so as to be fastened to the wigbase 12.

As shown in FIGS. 4( a) and 4(b), the right-hand curl hair piece 10 isretained with the tips of the hair pieces 10 a, 10 b on the right-handside and the curved folded portion 10 c on the left-hand side. When hairpiece portions in the vicinity of the folded portion 10 c are heldbetween a left thumb and a left index finger, the two hair pieces 10 a,10 b are curled so as to be wound around the left index finger.

As shown in FIGS. 4( c) and 4(d), the left-hand curl hair piece 10 isretained with the tips of the hair pieces 10 a, 10 b on the left-handside and the curved folded portion 10 c on the right-hand side. Whenhair piece portions in the vicinity of the folded portion 10 c are heldbetween a left thumb and a left index finger, the two hair pieces 10 a,10 b are curled so as to be wound around the left thumb. While in FIGS.4( b) and 4(d) the hair pieces 10 a, 10 b are shown as held betweenfingers for the sake of convenience to facilitate the understanding ofthe hair piece curling direction, in reality, the hair materials 10 arefastened to the wig base 12 while being grasped by a mechanical graspingmeans.

In the process shown in FIGS. 1( a) through 1(e), the right-hand curlhair material 10 held as shown in FIGS. 4( a) and 4(b) is fastened to afilament 15 forming a net as the wig base 12 through mechanicaloperation of a crochet 18.

In fastening the right-hand curl hair material 10 to the filament 15,while grasping the hair material 10 by a mechanical grasping means (notshown) such that the two hair pieces 10 a, 10 b are directed to theright with respect to the wig base 12, the folded portion 10 c of thehair material 10 is situated on the lower side (a side to be worn to ahead) of the filament 15, and the hair pieces are caused to cross eachother so that one hair piece 10 a comes over the other hair piece 10 bas shown in FIG. 1( a), thereby forming a first loop portion 17 on theinner side of the folded portion 10 c.

Next, as shown in FIG. 1( b), the folded portion 10 c is brought in thedirection of the filament 15, and one hair piece 10 a is passed throughthe first loop portion 17 while being folded as shown in FIG. 1( c), soa curved portion 10 d is formed in the middle portion of one hair piece10 a drawn out of the first loop portion 17, and a second loop portion19 is formed on the inner side of the curved portion 10 d.

Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 1( d), the other hair piece 10 b ispassed through the second loop portion 19 so as to be wound around onehair piece 10 a from the outside, and as shown in FIG. 1( e), the hairpieces 10 a, 10 b are pulled in opposite directions each other, and thefilament 15 is bound by a knot 20, so the hair material 10 is fastenedto the filament 15.

The hair material 10 of this embodiment having right-hand curl in thehair pieces 10 a, 10 b is fastened to the filament 15 in this way. As aresult, as shown in FIG. 5( a), the hair pieces 10 a, 10 b are orientedwith their curls aligned to the right with respect to the filament 15 ofthe wig base.

The left-hand curl hair material 10 shown in FIGS. 4( c) and 4(d) arealso fastened to the filament 15 by the same process as that for theright-hand curl hair material 10 described above, and as shown in FIG.5( b), the hair pieces 10 a, 10 b are oriented with their curls alignedto the left.

As described above, in this embodiment, the folded portion 10 c isfastened to the filament 15 through mechanical operation of the crochet18 while grasping the tips of the previously curled hair pieces 10 a, 10b by a separate grasping means such that they are oriented in apredetermined direction, i.e., either to the right or to the left, withrespect to the wig base 12, so it is possible to easily obtain a wig 11of a design in which the right-hand curl and left-hand curl imparted tothe hair pieces 10 a, 10 b are orderly parted on the right-hand andleft-hand sides of the wig base 12.

Thus, it is possible to avoid a situation as experienced in the priorart in which the curl directions of the hair pieces 10 a, 10 b fastenedto the wig base 12 are not fixed, and there is no need to perform apost-processing, such as alignment of the curls of the hair pieces 10 a,10 b by combing the hair material 10 after the attachment thereof, so itis possible to obtain a product superior not only in operability andproductivity but also in completeness as such.

Next, the second embodiment of the present invention will be describedwith reference to FIG. 6. FIGS. 6( a) through 6(c) are plan views forillustrating the operation of fastening a previously curled hairmaterial to a wig base. The hair material 10, the wig base 12, thefilament 15, and the crochet 18 are the same as those of the firstembodiment.

As in the first embodiment shown in FIGS. 1( a) through 1(e), in thesecond embodiment shown in FIGS. 6( a) through 6(c), in fastening thepreviously curled hair material 10 to the filament 15 of the wig base12, the hair material is grasped by a mechanical grasping means (notshown) such that the curls of the two hair pieces 10 a, 10 b areoriented in a predetermined direction with respect to the wig base 12.As shown in FIG. 6( a), the folded portion 10 c of the hair material 10is situated on the lower side (head side) of the filament 15, and thehair pieces are caused to cross each other such that one hair piece 10 acomes over the other hair piece 10 b, forming a first loop portion 21 onthe inner side of the folded portion 10 c.

In FIG. 6( b), the folded portion 10 c is wound from the lower side tothe upper side of the filament 15, and the other hair piece 10 b ispassed through the loop portion 21. Further, the entire other hair piece10 b is drawn out of the loop portion 21, and the hair pieces 10 a, 10 bare pulled each other in opposite directions, and the filament 15 isbound by a knot 22, so the hair material 10 is fastened to the filament15.

While in the first and second embodiments described above, a net-shapedwig base using filament is adopted, it is also possible, in the presentinvention, to use a sheet-like member composed of an artificial skin orthe like formed of synthetic resin as the wig base. In this case, tofasten the hair materials to the sheet-like wig base, a large number ofthrough-holes are provided in the sheet-like member, and twothrough-holes, i.e., a first through-hole and a second through-hole areused per hair material, the hair material being fastened regarding thesethrough-holes as both sides of the filament of the first and secondembodiments. Further, when the wig base composed of a sheet-like member,the fixation of the hair material can also be effected by transplanting,in which case the sheet-like member is pierced by the folded portion ofthe hair material, and a detachment preventing means is provided at thetip of the folded portion protruding from the lower side of thesheet-like member.

Next, procedures by which curl is imparted to the hair pieces 10 a, 10 bof the hair material 10 used in the above embodiments will be describedwith reference to the third through sixth embodiments shown in FIGS. 7through 16. In describing the third through sixth embodiments, FIGS. 1through 6 in the above will also be referred if necessary.

Of the drawings, FIGS. 7 through 16 show the third embodiment. FIG. 7 isa perspective view illustrating the operation of blending hairmaterials, FIG. 8 is a plan view of a sewn weft, FIG. 9 is a plan viewof a weft as placed on a sheet material, FIG. 10 is a plan view of aweft placed on a sheet material as combed, FIG. 11 is a sectional viewof a weft on a sheet material, FIG. 12 is a plan view illustrating howhair a tuft and a sheet material are wound around a pipe member, FIG. 13is a sectional view showing a weft and a sheet material as wound arounda pipe member, FIG. 14 is a perspective view showing, like FIG. 13, haira tuft and a sheet material as wound around a pipe member, FIG. 15 is afront view of a hair material as fastened to a filament, and FIG. 16 isa plan view of hair materials drawn out of hair a tuft.

The third embodiment shown in FIGS. 7 through 16 is suitable forimparting curl to human hairs as the hair materials 10 (including humanhairs from which the cuticles have been removed and which have undergonebleaching and dyeing processes so as to be suitable for use in a wig).First, as shown in FIGS. 7( a) and 7(b), a hair bundle 30 formed by aplurality of hair materials 10 composed of human hairs of a plurality ofdesired colors is applied to a hair comber 31, and the hair bundle 30 isrepeatedly combed by a teeth 31 a of the hair comber 31 to therebyeffect blending on the hair materials 10 of a plurality of colors to asufficient degree. Even when the hair materials 10 are monochrome humanhairs, the hair bundle 30 is disentangled into unit hairs by putting itthrough the hair comber 31. Next, the blended hair bundle 30 is cut in apredetermined length. This predetermined length is a reference length infastening the hair materials 10 to the wig base 12.

FIG. 8( a) is a plan view of a weft 14 prepared by sewing together anappropriate amount by weight of the hair materials 10 cut in apredetermined length at a predetermined longitudinal position, and FIG.8( b) is an enlarge view of the weft 14. The weft 14 thus formed has aplurality of sewn bundles 32. When a lateral width 6L of the weft 14shown in FIG. 8( a) is too large, it is rather difficult to apply auniform tension to an aluminum pipe member 33 in the operation describedbelow of winding the weft 14 around the pipe member 33, so it isdesirable for the width to be 20 cm or less. Sewing marks 34 of sewingthread 16 are left in the hair materials 10 in the process describedbelow (see FIG. 16), so the position where the sewing marks 34 of thesewing thread 16 are left constitutes the folding position in fasteningthe hair materials 10 to the wig base 12.

It is desirable for the weft 14 thus formed to contain 8 to 10 sewnbundles 32 per centimeter, and it is desirable for each sewn bundle 32to contain 12 to 27 hair materials 10. If the number of sewn bundles 32per centimeter were less than eight, the pitch of the sewn bundles 32would be too large, making it impossible to uniformly distribute thehair materials 10 shown in FIG. 10. Further, it would be difficult towind the hair materials 10 around the pipe member 33 at a fixed angle.Further, when combing the weft 14 prior to the winding so as to make itstraight, the hair materials 10 would be likely to be detached to thesewn bundles 32. On the other hand, if the number of sewn bundles 32 percentimeter were more than ten per centimeter, there would be no intervalbetween the sewn bundles 32, and the sewn portion would be rather thickto constitute a step when wound around the pipe member 33 to wrinkle thehair materials 10. Thus, so-called loose curl, which is weaker than apredetermined curl, is likely to result. Further, if the number of sewnbundles 32 per unit length is large, when sewing is performed in theproduction of the weft 14, the hair materials 10 and the sewing thread16 are likely to be entangled with each other, and the sewing thread 16is pulled, with the result that a neat weft 14 cannot be obtained. Thus,the hair materials 10 are wrinkled or rumpled after the imparting ofcurl thereto.

When the number of hair materials 10 in each sewn bundle 32 is lesstwelve or less, there is no problem in terms of the imparting of curl.However, the length of the weft 14 becomes rather large, and a largenumber of wefts 14 have to be produced in order to prepare the requisiteamount of hair materials 10, with the result that the number of pipemembers 33 around which the wefts 14 are to be wound increases,resulting in an increase in burden in terms of operation and cost. Whenthe number of hair materials 10 per sewn bundle 32 is twenty-seven ormore, the thickness of each sewn bundle 32 increases, and loose curl,which is weaker than a predetermined curl, is likely to result.

FIGS. 9 and 11( a) show a state in which a first cold permanent liquidhas been sufficiently applied to the weft 14 formed as described aboveand in which the weft 14 has been placed at a predetermined position ona sheet material 35 moistened and spread on a working table. The weft 14is combed so as to make it straight, so the hair materials 10 arealigned in a row with no gap therebetween as shown in FIGS. 10 and 11(b), thereby reducing the thickness of the weft 14.

The sheet material 35 serves as a guide when winding the weft 14 aroundthe pipe member 33. At the time of use, it is moistened and spread overand held in intimate contact with the working table so as to involve nowrinkles. As the sheet material 35, non-woven fabric is preferable sinceit increases in surface frictional force when moistened to preventslippage. When it involves slippage when moistened, it may causespinning or generate a gap between the weft and the aluminum pipe member33 around which it is wound, resulting in loose curl.

For this reason, as the material of the non-woven fabric for the sheetmaterial 35, rayon or polyester is preferable. More preferably, a weightper unit area [metuske] of 18 to 30 g/m² is adopted. When the weight perunit area [metuske] is 18 g/m² or less, the density of the sheetmaterial is rather small, and the cold permanent liquid applied to theweft 14 is easily vaporized, making it impossible to impart curl to asufficient degree. Further, at the time of operation of winding itaround the pipe member 33, the sheet material 35 is likely to sufferdamage when tension is applied thereto. On the other hand, when theweight per unit area [metuske] is 30 g/m² or more, the thickness of thesheet material 35 is rather large, so that when it is wound around thepipe member 33, a rather large diameter results as the winding diameterincreases, and the tuft 14 is likely to assume loose curl, which isweaker than curl of a predetermined configuration.

In the subsequent process shown in FIG. 12, an aluminum pipe member 33with a circular sectional configuration is placed at one end of thesheet material 35, and the weft 14 and the sheet material 35 are woundintegrally around the pipe 33 while applying tension thereto, as shownin FIGS. 13 and 14, fixing the outer center and both side ends of thetuft 14 by a fixing means 36, such as an adhesive tape or a rubber band.Next, the pipe 33 around which the weft 14 and the sheet material 35have been wound is sealed in a plastic bag (not shown) and left to standfor approximately 15 minutes at room temperature. After that, a secondcold permanent liquid are directly applied to the sheet material 35 inthe outer periphery of the pipe member 33 extracted from the plasticbag, or to the disentangled weft 14 from the pipe member 33. Next, theweft 14 and the sheet material 35 are wound around the pipe member 33again and fixed by the fixing means 36 before being left to stand for 15minutes at room temperature.

After that, the fixing means 36 is released, and washing in flowingwater is effected while gradually releasing the weft 14 and the sheet 35wound around the pipe member 33, and the sheet material 35 is spreadover the working table so as to involve no wrinkles. Next, the washedweft 14 is arranged at a predetermined position on the sheet material35, and hair rinse or conditioner is applied to the weft 14. Theapplication of the rinse or conditioner is effected for the purpose ofachieving an improvement in terms of texture since the texture of thehair materials 13 that have undergone treatment with the cold permanentliquid is rather hard.

Next, the weft 14 is combed by the same process as that of FIG. 10, andthe hair materials 10 are uniformly distributed so as to involve no gapstherebetween and to be aligned in a row, thereby reducing the thicknessof the weft 14. Next, by the same process as that shown in FIGS. 12through 14, the weft 14 and the sheet material 35 are integrally woundaround the pipe material 33. Further, the weft 14 and the sheet material35 are fixed in position by a fixing means 36, such as an adhesive tapeor a rubber band, and the pipe member 33 is wrapped up in a towel or thelike to remove surplus water from the sheet material 35. After that,they are left to stand at room temperature until the sheet material 35wound around the pipe member 33 is completely dried, or dried in a dryerat a temperature of approximately 90° C. Finally, the sheet material 35and the weft 14 are extracted.

FIG. 15 shows a single hair material 10 thus curled. Each hair material10 has a sewing mark 34 at the position where sewing has been effectedwith the sewing thread 16. When, by the sewing process of FIG. 8, themiddle points in the length direction of the hair materials 10 are sewntogether, the length of the hair pieces 10 a, 10 b of each hair material10 fastened to a filament 15 of the wig base 12 is half the total lengthof the hair material 10 as shown in FIG. 15( a). The position at whichthe sewing is effected with the sewing thread 16 is not restricted tothe position where the total length of the hair material 10 is equallydivided. When the sewing is effected with the sewing thread 16 at aposition somewhat deviated therefrom, the hair pieces 10 a, 10 b differin length as shown in FIG. 15( b), and when it is fastened to thefilament 15 of the wig base 12, it is possible to obtain an outwardappearance different from that obtained by effecting sewing at theposition equally dividing the hair material as shown in FIG. 15( a).

Next, the fourth embodiment of the present invention will be describedwith reference to FIGS. 7 through 16, which are common to the thirdembodiment. A detailed description of the components that are the sameas those of the third embodiment will be omitted. In this embodiment,the hair material 10 is formed of an acrylic resin or a modacrylic resin(copolymer of acrylic resin and vinyl chloride) or the like. It issuitable for imparting curl to chemical fiber hairs of low heatresistance and exhibiting a softening temperature of 100° C. or less.

In the fourth embodiment shown in FIGS. 7 through 16, the processes ofFIGS. 7 and 8 are the same as those of the third embodiment. In thesubsequent process shown in FIGS. 9 and 11( a), a conditioner forchemical fibers is applied to the weft 14, and the weft 14 is placed ata predetermined position on the sheet material 35 spread on the workingtable. The sheet material 35 serves as a guide in winding the weft 14around the pipe member 33, and when in use, it is spread over and heldin intimate contact with the working table so as to involve no wrinkles.The weft 14 is combed so as to make it straight, so the hair materials10 are aligned in a row with no gap therebetween as shown in FIGS. 10and 11( b), thereby reducing the thickness of the weft 14.

As the sheet material 35 of this embodiment, non-woven fabric or paperis suitable. There are no particular limitations regarding its natureexcept that the weight per unit area [metuske] thereof is 40 to 50 g/m².When the weight per unit area [metuske] is not more than 40 g/m², thedensity of the sheet material 35 is rather low, and heat is allowed tobe conducted quickly at the time of heat treatment to impart curl. Thus,the uppermost layer of the weft 14 wound around the aluminum pipe member33 is excessively heated, and shrinkage occurs in the portion, resultingin a rather poor outward appearance, which leads to a product of nocommercial value. On the other hand, when the weight per unit area[metuske] is 50 g/m² or more, the thickness of the non-woven fabric orpaper increases, so that when wound around the pipe member 33, itincreases in diameter as the winding diameter increases. Thus, the weft14 is likely to result in loose curl, which is weaker than curl of apredetermined configuration. Further, the density of the non-wovenfabric or paper is rather high, so that the heat is cut off at the timeof heat treatment to impart curl, and the requisite heat for curling isnot applied, which is likely to lead to so-called loose curl, which isweaker than curl of a predetermined configuration.

The conditioner for chemical fibers applied to the weft 14 is used forthe purpose of achieving an improvement in terms of texture sincechemical fiber hairs become harder after the imparting of curl. As theconditioner, it is desirable to adopt one containing 20 to 30% of asurface-active agent composed of nonions or cations or a mixturethereof. When the content of the surface-active agent exceeds 30%, thesurface of the hair materials 10 become sticky of a change in tone isinvolved in the heat treatment after the imparting of curl. When thecontent of the surface-active agent is 20% or less, the effect ofimproving the texture after the imparting of curl is hardly to beobserved.

In the process shown in FIG. 12, the aluminum pipe member 33 of acircular sectional configuration is placed at one end of the sheetmaterial 35, and they are wound integrally around the pipe member 33while applying tension to the weft 14 and the sheet material 35, fixingthe outside center and both side ends of the tuft 14 in position by thefixing means 36, such as an adhesive tape or a rubber band, as shown inFIGS. 13 and 14. Next, the pipe member 33 around which the weft 14 andthe sheet material 35 have been wound is put in a dryer set at atemperature of approximately 90° C., and heat treatment is conducted forapproximately one hour. After that, the pipe member 33 is extracted andallowed to cool itself. Finally, the weft 14 is removed from the sheetmaterial 35.

Next, the fifth embodiment of the present invention will be describedwith reference FIGS. 7 through 16 common to the third and fourthembodiments plus FIGS. 17 and 18. A detailed description of thecomponents that are the same as those of the third and fourthembodiments will be omitted. This embodiment is superior in impartingcurl to the hair pieces 10 a, 10 b of a hair material 10 that is formedof polyamide, in particular, a straight-chain aliphatic polyamide.Further, it is more desirable that the coloring of the hair material beeffected by mixing in the raw material, that the surface of the hairmaterial be composed of spherulites, blasts or a combination thereof toform asperities 10 e on the surface of the artificial hair material 10to thereby suppress the gloss thereof, and that the shrinkage rate ofthe hair material be 2 to 5%.

In the fifth embodiment, the processes of FIGS. 7 and 8 are the same asthose of the third and fourth embodiments. When they are wound aroundthe pipe member 33, the weft 14 and the sheet material 35 are immersedin an aqueous solution of silicon emulsion. As the sheet material 35, anon-woven fabric of a weight per unit area [metuske] of 18 to 30 g/m² issuitably used. When the weight per unit area [metuske] is 18 g/m² orless, the impregnation amount of the silicon emulsion aqueous solutionis small, and it is rather difficult to fix the skin on the surface ofthe hair material uniformly and at a predetermined film pressure. Thesheet material is likely to suffer damage when tension is appliedthereto while winding it around the pipe member 33. On the other hand,when the weight per unit area [metuske] is 30 g/m² or more, thethickness of the sheet material 35 increases, so that when it is woundaround the pipe member 33, its diameter increases as the windingdiameter increases, with the result that the weft 14 is likely to assumeloose curl, which is weaker than curl of a predetermined configuration.

As the non-woven fabric for the sheet material 35, it is desirable toadopt one that increases in surface friction force when moistened tothereby prevent slippage. If the surface of the sheet material 35 isslippery when moistened, spinning occurs when it is wound around thealuminum pipe member 33, and a gap is generated between the pipe member33 and the weft 14 wound around it, which leads to loose curl. For thesereasons, the material of the non-woven fabric is preferably rayon orpolyester, as described above, with the weight per unit area [metuske]thereof being preferably 18 to 30 g/m².

The silicon emulsion is used for the purpose of imparting curl to thehair material 10 and imparting smoothness and a deep color effect to thehair material surface. From the viewpoint of deep color effect, texture,and durability, an anionic discoloring epoxy silicon is preferable, andan aqueous solution concentration of 1 to 2% is preferable since itinvolves no discoloration or sticky texture after the imparting of curl.

In the process of FIGS. 9 and 11( a) subsequent to FIGS. 7 and 8, theweft 14 and the sheet material 35 are immersed in an aqueous solution ofsilicon emulsion and are then lightly squeezed. FIG. 9 shows how thesheet material 35 is spread over the working table so as to involve nowrinkles, with the weft 14 being placed at a predetermined position onthe sheet material 35. Next, the weft 14 is combed so as to make itstraight. As a result, as shown in FIGS. 10 and 11( b), the hairmaterials 10 are aligned in a row so as to involve no gap therebetween,thereby reducing the thickness of the weft 14.

In the next process shown in FIG. 12, the aluminum pipe member 33 with acircular sectional configuration is placed at one end of the sheetmaterial 35, and the weft 14 and the sheet material 35 are integrallywound around the pipe member 33 while applying tension thereto, fixingthe outside center and both side ends of the weft 14 in position by thefixing means 36, such as an adhesive tape or a rubber band, as shown inFIGS. 13 and 14. Next, the pipe member 33 around which the weft 14 andthe sheet material 35 are wound is covered with a towel or the like towipe away surplus silicon emulsion aqueous solution.

In the next process shown in FIG. 18, the outer side of the weft 14, thesheet material 35, and the pipe member 33 as a whole is covered with analuminum foil 37, and is put in a dryer set at a temperature of 160 to170° C. to conduct heat treatment for 40 to 60 minutes.

After the heat treatment, the whole is extracted from the dryer, andallowed to cool itself. Finally, the weft 14 is extracted.

The covering with the aluminum foil 37 in this embodiment is effectedfor the purpose of obtaining a curl of high retaining property at lowertemperature by continuously applying moist air and dry air in a singleheat treatment. That is, for 20 to 30 minutes after the whole is put inthe dryer, the evaporation of the water of the silicon emulsion aqueoussolution with which the weft 14 and the sheet material 35 areimpregnated is suppressed by the influence of the materials of thealuminum pipe member 33 and the aluminum foil 37, so that the weft 14 issubjected to heat treatment at high temperature and high humidity. When,thereafter, the water has been evaporated, the heat treatment isconducted in a dry state.

In this way, in the fifth embodiment, it is possible to apply moist airand dry air continuously with ease, without using any special device,through a combination of the material and weight per unit area [metuske]of the non-woven fabric wound together with the weft 14, the aluminumpipe member 33, and the aluminum foil 37, and through adjustment of thetemperature and time of the heat treatment, thereby making it possibleto obtain a curl of still higher retaining property.

Next, the sixth embodiment of the present invention will be describedwith reference FIGS. 7 through 16 common to the third through fifthembodiments plus FIGS. 19 and 20. A detailed description of thecomponents that are the same as those of the third through fifthembodiments will be omitted. This embodiment is suitable for anartificial hair described below. That is, an artificial hair of acore/sheath structure is preferable, with the core portion being formedof a semi-aromatic polyamide with a phenylene unit in the main chain,and the sheath portion being formed of a straight-chain aliphaticpolyamide of methylene chain bonding. The sheath/core weight ratioranges from 30/70 to 10/90, and the hair thickness ranges from 40 to 80μm.

As the semi-aromatic polyamide forming the core portion, it is moredesirable to adopt, for example, nylon MXD6, which is obtained throughpolymerization of methaxylenediamine and adipic acid. As thestraight-chain aliphatic polyamide forming the sheath portion, it ismore desirable to adopt, for example, nylon 6. FIG. 19 is a schematicsectional view of the artificial hair material of the sheath/corestructure. Further, as shown in FIG. 20( a), the surface of theartificial hair material 10 is preferably roughened by blast shot or thelike to form asperities 10 f to thereby suppress gloss. As shown in FIG.20( b), which is an enlarged view, the asperities 10 f are preferablyformed to such a degree that the maximum difference in height betweenthe protrusions and recesses, indicated at 38, is approximately 1.3 μm.

In the sixth embodiment, the processes of FIGS. 7 and 8 are the same asthose of the fifth embodiment. As in the fifth embodiment, when windingthe weft 14 and the sheet material 35 around the pipe member 33, theyare immersed in an aqueous solution of silicon emulsion. Apart fromimparting curl, this aqueous solution of silicon emulsion is used forthe purpose of fixing a film with smoothness to the surface of the hairmaterials 10. As the sheet material 35, a non-woven fabric of rayon orpolyester of a weight per unit area [metuske] of 18 to 30 g/m² ispreferable.

When the weight per unit area [metuske] is 18 g/m² or less, theimpregnation amount of the silicon emulsion aqueous solution is small,and it is rather difficult to fix the skin on the surface of the hairmaterial uniformly and at a predetermined film pressure. The sheetmaterial is likely to suffer damage when tension is applied theretowhile winding it around the pipe member 33. On the other hand, when theweight per unit area [metuske] is 30 g/m² or more, the thickness of thesheet material 35 increases, so that when it is wound around the pipemember 33, its diameter increases as the winding diameter increases,with the result that the weft 14 is likely to assume loose curl, whichis weaker than curl of a predetermined configuration.

As the non-woven fabric for the sheet material 35, it is desirable toadopt one that increases in surface friction force when moistened tothereby prevent slippage. If the surface of the sheet material 35 isslippery when moistened, spinning occurs when it is wound around thealuminum pipe member 33, and a gap is generated between the pipe member33 and the weft 14 wound around it, which leads to loose curl. For thesereasons, the material of the non-woven fabric is preferably rayon orpolyester, in addition, with the weight per unit area [metuske] thereofbeing preferably 18 to 30 g/m².

In the process of FIGS. 9 and 11( a) subsequent to FIGS. 7 and 8, theweft 14 and the sheet material 35 are immersed in an aqueous solution ofsilicon emulsion and are then lightly squeezed. FIG. 9 shows how thesheet material 35 is spread over the working table so as to involve nowrinkles, with the weft 14 being placed at a predetermined position onthe sheet material 35. Next, the weft 14 is combed so as to make itstraight. As a result, as shown in FIGS. 10 and 11( b), the hairmaterials 10 are aligned in a row so as to involve no gap therebetween,thereby reducing the thickness of the weft 14.

In the next process shown in FIG. 12, the aluminum pipe member 33 with acircular sectional configuration is placed at one end of the sheetmaterial 35, and the weft 14 and the sheet material 35 are integrallywound around the pipe member 33 while applying tension thereto, fixingthe outside center and both side ends of the weft 14 in position by thefixing means 36, such as an adhesive tape or a rubber band, as shown inFIGS. 13 and 14. Next, the pipe member 33 around which the weft 14 andthe sheet material 35 are wound is covered with a towel or the like towipe away surplus silicon emulsion aqueous solution.

Next, the pipe member 33 around which the weft 14 and the sheet material35 are wound is put in a dryer set at a temperature of 100° C. or less,and dried to evaporate the water therein, solely leaving silicon on theweft 14 and the sheet material 35. After that, the pipe member 33 aroundwhich the weft 14 and the sheet material 35 are wound is put in a dryerset at a temperature of 180° C., and heat treatment is conducted for twohours, thereby imparting curl to the hair materials 10 and fixing acoating film to the surface of the hair materials 10. After the heattreatment, the whole is extracted from the dryer, and allowed to coolitself. Finally, the weft 14 is extracted.

As a modification of the sixth embodiment described above, it is alsopossible to carry out the seventh embodiment described below. In theseventh embodiment, in the process of the sixth embodiment shown in FIG.14, the weft 14 and the sheet material 35 are wound around the pipemember 33, and in the process shown in FIG. 15, the entire pipe member33 is covered with the aluminum foil 37. This is put in a dryer set at atemperature of 180° C., and heat treatment is conducted for two hours,thereby imparting curl to the hair materials 10, and at the same time,fixing a coating film to the surface of the hair materials 10. After theheat treatment, the whole is extracted from the dryer, and allowed tocool itself. Finally, the weft 14 is extracted.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

The wig of the present invention is useful as a hair volume increasingmeans for covering a hair receding head portion, or especially as afashion item for ladies, or as a medical covering means for a head thathas undergone operation. Further, it is useful as a stage makeup meansfor performing arts or the like.

1-6. (canceled)
 7. A wig comprising: a wig base to be worn to a head;and a large number of hair materials fixed to the wig base, each being apair of hair pieces obtained by folding a weft into two, wherein curlsand treatment to improve at least one of texture, smoothness and deepcolor effect are imparted in advance to the weft before being fixed tothe wig base, wherein the pair of hair pieces is obtained by folding theweft into two at one point so as to orient the curls imparted to thesame direction, wherein a folded portion of the pair of hair pieces isfixed to the wig base while tips of the pair of hair pieces are beingoriented to a predetermined direction with respect to the wig base,thereby the curls of the pair of hair pieces are oriented to apredetermined direction after being fixed to the wig base.
 8. The wigaccording to claim 7, wherein the curls of the pair of hair pieces areimparted by a method comprising the steps of: applying a first coldpermanent liquid to the weft containing a predetermined number of thehair materials in each of a predetermined number of pitches andimpregnating a sheet of non-woven fabric with water; placing the weft onthe sheet and combing the weft to thereby uniformly distribute the hairmaterials on the sheet; winding the weft and the sheet integrally arounda pipe; keeping them in this state sealed in a bag for a predeterminedperiod of time; applying a second cold permanent liquid to the hairmaterials extracted from the bag after the predetermined period of timehas elapsed; winding the weft and the sheet integrally around the pipe;keeping them in this state for further predetermined period of time; andwashing in water the weft wound off after the further predeterminedperiod of time has elapsed.
 9. The wig according to claim 7, wherein thecurls of the pair of hair pieces are imparted by a method comprising thesteps of: applying a conditioner for chemical fibers to the weftcontaining a predetermined number of the hair materials in each of apredetermined number of pitches; placing the weft on a sheet of one ofnon-woven fabric and paper and combing the weft to thereby uniformlydistribute the hair materials on the sheet; winding the weft and thesheet integrally around a pipe; and heating them in this state for apredetermined period of time.
 10. The wig according to claim 7, whereinthe curls of the pair of hair pieces are imparted by a method comprisingthe steps of: impregnating the weft containing a predetermined number ofthe hair materials in each of a predetermined number of pitches and asheet of non-woven fabric with an aqueous solution of silicon emulsion;placing the weft on the sheet and combing the weft to thereby uniformlydistribute the hair materials on the sheet; winding the weft and thesheet integrally around a pipe and covering them with an aluminum foil;and heating them in this state for a predetermined period of time. 11.The wig according to claim 7, wherein the curls of the pair of hairpieces are imparted by a method comprising the steps of: immersing theweft containing a predetermined number of the hair materials in each ofa predetermined number of pitches and a sheet of non-woven fabric in anaqueous solution of silicon emulsion; placing the weft on the sheetmaterial and combing the weft to thereby uniformly distribute the hairmaterials on the sheet material; winding the weft and the sheetintegrally around a pipe and drying them; and heating them in this statefor a predetermined period of time.
 12. The wig according to claim 11,wherein the third and fourth steps are replaced with the steps of:winding the weft and the sheet integrally around a pipe and coveringthem with an aluminum foil; and heating them in this state for apredetermined period of time.